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Arsenal are reportedly coming under increasing pressure to sell Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain this summer, as they haven’t been able to lower their wage bill.

The problem seemingly starts with the fact that the 24-year-old has under 12 months remaining on his current contract, which in turn had already raised question marks about his future at the Emirates.

Add to that speculation of interest from rivals Chelsea, with The Mirror noting that they could launch an improved £35m bid for the England international this week, and Arsenal have a real problem on their hands over a player who is now starting to show his true worth.

However, in addition to that, the Mirror report that the fact that Arsene Wenger has been unable to offload players deemed surplus to requirements this summer, of which there are many, he is struggling to keep hold of the players that really matter.

Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Oxlade-Chamberlain are just three players in the final year of their respective contracts, and that has led to a very tricky situation for Arsenal.

Mathieu Debuchy, Lucas Perez, Calum Chambers, Carl Jenkinson, Kieran Gibbs, David Ospina and Jack Wilshere are just some of the names that are mentioned as being available to sign, but they haven’t been able to shift any of them with Mirror’s John Cross blaming the club’s valuations of the players.

That could now seriously cost them in terms of keeping their best players let alone signing more new stars, with the report noting that they had to give up their pursuit of Monaco’s Thomas Lemar for the very same reason.

Time will tell if others can be shifted to allow Arsenal to keep Oxlade-Chamberlain, but the picture doesn’t look particularly bright for now.